Various diseases are known in which the metabolism of iron is not normal. For example, in an anemia not enough blood can be formed due to an overall lack of iron in the body. Another metabolic condition relating to iron is hemochromatosis, in which the overall concentration of iron in the body is higher than normal, which can lead to various deleterious health conditions, including the destruction of organs.
Disturbances of iron distribution differ from the above-described metabolic disorders (anemia and hemochromatosis) in that the overall concentration of iron in the body is normal. However, the iron concentrations are misdistributed throughout the body. Thus excess iron accumulates in various organs and can lead to damage, even destruction, of these organs. On the other hand, less than normal quantities of iron are available for the formation of blood, leading to secondary effects which are comparable to those related to anemia.
Until now it was not known that patients suffering from chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases have a high probability being affected by disturbances of iron distribution. Disturbances of iron distribution can be diagnosed by various parameters which are commonly used in the diagnosis of the iron status. Based on measurements of ferritin and soluble transferrin receptor it is possible to assess whether the overall concentration of iron in a patient suffering from chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases is normal. If this is the case, then a lowered concentration of Hemoglobin in reticulocytes is an indicator for disturbances of iron distribution. Another indicator is a continuously/prolonged elevated concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients suffering from chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases and exhibiting a normal overall iron concentration. A method for diagnosing disturbances of iron distribution has been described by P. Lehmann, M. Volkmann, J. Lotz, A. Baldauf, R. Roeddiger, poster presented at the AACC/CSCC, Annual Meeting, Jul. 29-Aug. 2, 2001, Chicago, Ill.